Wednesday, October 16, 2013

US: The Hollywood state

Something about the "crisis" feels weird though. But not a weirdness in the political crisis itself - more in how we react to it.

Something about the air of last minute salvation, something about quotes like "Brink of disaster". Something about comparing it all to a nuclear bomb.This episode of US politics has edged rather too unnervingly toward "Hollywood politics". In which the Earth (read "North America") faces a major crisis, and a few brave fellows (always fellows) manage to overcome the odds at the last moment to save the day. It's stock stuff.But should it be stock stuff for the major functioning of a global democratic power? Sure, there's contingency plans and nobody really thought it wouldn't get resolved, but is this how politics will be done now? Through blackmail? Through impending disaster? Wait until "Debt Ceiling: The Movie" hits your torrents.Democracy deserves better. Getting into such a state - and having populations accept it en masse - is great for news-sellers, but really shouldn't become a status quo. Two-party systems are becoming routed around. Fake and foreseeable disasters are a pretty shit way of trying to put some life back into them.I've been watching what's going on with interest. But the more I watch, the more I'm pretty sure I don't like being one of the uncredited actors that doesn't make it out alive.